The river by our house is at flood stage.

We are not walking much in our neighborhood, despite my determination a few weeks ago.  It’s just not the best place to be lately, but I’ve accepted it.  We do not plan to move.  I’m pretty sure we can outlive and outlast.

Our boys are doing well.  They are both learning to read at the same time.  They are encouraging each other. It’s like watching young horses run together.  It’s amazing to watch.  Hearing our boys take turns reading Dr. Seuss books last night was music to my ears.

Hunter is working through the books on Explode the Code on-line. He is on book 2 and needs the extra practice.  He is getting spelling and phonics with this as well. He prefers the computer, clicking and typing, to the handwriting in the ETC workbooks.  He likes computer instruction instead of my help learning to read.  It’s been nice to be able to take me out of it.

Chandler is on lesson 32 in Headsprout.   Chandler is learning to read by sight and memory.  He sees a word a couple of times and he knows it.  I’m encouraging him to do Headsprout because I want him to have phonics instruction, but he seems bored with it.  When he gets to chapter book level, he needs to know how to sound out bigger words, so I’m trying encourage that.  I might try Ordinary Parents Guide with Chandler since  he likes human teachers better than computer instruction.

Overall, I’m really relaxed about the boys learning to read and write. It’s really nice to say that!  The boys are also doing copywork and I use this website to print their worksheets. They tell me what they want to write and they like to be silly.  I have them underline the nouns and put a dot under the verbs.  They are learning these parts of speech because of our nightly noun stories.  The boys pick a person(s), place(s) and thing(s), an action verb and abstract noun and I tell a story using everything they picked.  They are simple stories to tell and they like hearing all their choices.  They will remind me if I forget one of their choices!  I will continue to add parts of speech like adjectives and adverbs soon.

Yesterday we played a fun Treasure Hunt game.  Hunter wrote words, and if Chandler could read the word he got to open the picture clue that he drew himself.  Then we played again and I wrote phrase clues like “under the desk” and “between the floor cushions.” I tried to think of as many words that I could to describe the location:  above, below, between, under, around, etc.

Today I want to play a reading/charades game.  I will write on pieces of paper things like “jump up and down,” “stand on one foot,” and “turn around in a circle.”  Then I will know they are reading and understanding.  I’m so happy to be able to play these kinds of games now!

Math is going well too.  Hunter is adding and subtracting in columns and learning to carry and borrow.  I can tell he doesn’t really understand why he is doing it, he is just doing it how I showed him.  I need to think of a way to show him with manipulatives.  We will start multiplication soon.  Chandler is ahead in math too.  Chandler finished kindergarten last month.  He is doing first grade work now.

I hope to restart our State quilt project in February.  It was a nice break for us!

A friend recommended her pizza dough recipe and it looks yummy but I haven’t tried it because another friend suggested this book.  This is my style of cooking — innovative short cuts, make-ahead, super easy, and super yummy.  I like the dough flavor on Day 1 and  I especially like the flavor around Day 3 or 4.  By Day 6 or 7 the dough is too strong for my taste, but it doesn’t matter because we use up a triple batch in less the a week!  We have two hungry boys and now we have inexpensive bread to help fill them up.

I made their recipe even easier by tripling it, using a five pound bag of King Arthur Flour (all-purpose, unbleached white) and not bothering to measure from the bag. I add in two additional cups of flour using the scoop and sweep method. I have played with adding as little as an extra 3/4 cup and as much as 3 and 1/2 cups of flour.  I like the extra 2 cups the best. However, there are more air holes with only the extra 3/4 cup.

I use a Pampered Chef measuring and mixing bowl for the 9 and a half cups of warm water. I fill it to the top edge of the words at the top of the outside of the measuring bowl, so I am not counting cups of water either.  For the coarse salt and yeast, I fill our quarter measuring cup to heaping which is 4 and 1/2 tablespoons.  Easy peasy.

I do pour the yeast into the warm water and dissolve a little. I also mix the coarse salt into the flour before adding the liquid.  Then you just mix until moistened (no kneading required) and let it rise for 2 hours.  Then divide into covered, but not sealed, containers and put it into the fridge.  Use as needed!

Look at all we have made with this basic dough recipe.

Making pizzas ahead and freezing them uncooked works well too.  You do not need to let it defrost before baking, but I have partially defrosted it.  Use a piece of aluminum foil if the cheese is browning faster than the pizza crust.  The directions for all of this is in the book.

I recommend buying the book because there are other refrigerator dough “base” recipes and recipes for what to do with them, including recipes using healthier, whole grains.

Open Your Mouth!

The big bird said to the little bird,

“Open your mouth and close your eyes.  I’m going to give you a big surprise.”

“A bug!”

The Cat said to the kitten,

“Open your mouth and close your eyes, I’m going to give you a big surprise.”

“A dead mouse!”

The dog said to the puppy,

“Open your mouth and close your eyes, I’m going to give you a big surprise!”

“An old bone!”

_________

He wanted to keep going, so I read the following paragraph to him (he wasn’t looking) and he answered all the questions.  He wanted to try reading it, so I told him the names again.  He hesitated on “everyone,” “talked” and “night.”  After this, he’d had enough.

Debbie and Stephen

Debbie and Stephen went to a concert. Everyone sat down.  Then the music began. Everyone listened.  No one talked. Debbie and Stephen enjoyed the music.  Later they talked about how nice the music was that night.

________

Hunter is making big leaps in his reading ability!  He is not frustrated with this level.  When we come back after the break, I want to work on word families and sight words since he stumbled on “night” and “everyone.”  We will also do Explode the Code online this year too, but maybe not at the same time. Hunter does best when we mix it up and take breaks.  His biggest leaps happen after a break.

I hope to focus on winter nature, and hopefully some beach combing.  We might stay at the coast for a week or more.  If we have wifi, I’ll continue to post.

Happy New Year!

More Book Ideas from Homeschool Share Master Geography List:

Hunter finished Headsprout in September but retention from the last half of the program is not very high.  I would recommend lessons 1 through 40 to jumpstart reading, but not the second set of lessons unless your child really loves the program.  Chandler is on lesson 31.  Chandler is reading real books and catching on quickly.

Last year we also did a lot of work with the Dolch sight words and Hunter remembers most of those, and he remembers the most repetitive words in Headsprout, mostly from lessons 1 through 40.  This tells me he needs more repetition.  So we’ll work on the 2nd and 3rd grade sight words in 2012.

Hunter also does very well with this Paint Chip Word Family Game.

Hunter and Chandler can read this book set without frustration. I’m celebrating their progress!  Scholastic First Little Readers are available in a set on ebay.  They have picture clues and plenty of repetition.  These books are building confidence in both boys.

Hunter gets plenty of practice with spelling by typing in key words into Google or YouTube.  He loves Lego stop-motion videos.  He just started making his own too, and can navigate the software like a pro.

Screen shot of Teach Me Kindergarten

Both boys like doing “school work” on the iPod.  Chandler recently finished Teach Me Kindergarten, and Hunter did Teach Me First Grade as a review.  Chandler is done with kindergarten and close on his brother’s heels.

This fall we worked in the Explode the Code workbooks which Chandler loves, but Hunter complained often about the required writing.  Sometimes I would do the writing for him, since he can write legibly, and because the goal is reading, not writing.  I do believe other things like spelling and writing WILL come later.  Once the boys see more patterns in words, then spelling will be easier.

A good change for Hunter was to start using Explode the Code Online. Now he is flying through the lessons without complaint!  He completed Book 1 in about two weeks.  He needed the extra practice with short vowel sounds like short E and short I.  I really like the computer program since it is covering all the skills for reading and spelling, and it will repeat lessons when needed.

What I don’t like is some of the new picture clues are hard to decipher, even for me.  So when it asks you to click on the picture that starts with the short E sound, you have to figure out what the picture IS then click on it.  If you could hover and have it say the word, then there would be fewer mistakes.  One of the pictures for a short E word was a drawing of a man crawling out of a window with bars on it, like an old style jail.  The word was “escape” and even I didn’t get it at first.  So that “assessment” then places you in the correct lessons, but some of the misses were from not knowing the name of the picture.

Like I said, Hunter needed the extra practice with easy vowel sounds, but another child might be really frustrated to have to do those easier lessons.  The parent or teacher can set the lessons to any level, but I also feel some skills might be missed this way.  Their program needs some updates.

Also, the program times the child on how long it takes to do a lesson and then gives a paper airplane, butterfly, or ladybug according to how long it took but not necessarily the number of misses.  The bees are for too many misses.  So if a child is goofing around or fidgeting, or talking to someone else, their “scores” will be lower.  It is important to pause the program when the child takes breaks.  We did not have this issue in Headsprout.

These are my only two complaints about the program.  Otherwise, Hunter is flying through 10 lessons a day.  To give him incentive to do his best I told him that he needs to get 10 butterflies or paper airplanes per day.  If he gets ladybugs or bees, he needs to do more lessons. Now he pays more attention.

I often think about life skills for our children.   They each have very different interests.  One boy likes books, the other likes audio books.  One likes to build, the other likes to play school.  My job is to give them wings.

With all that is happening in our lives, “courage” will be our motto for 2012.

Week of December 12th
N is for Nutmeg: A Connecticut Alphabet
Statehood: January 9, 1788
Tree: White Oak quercus alba
Flower: Mountain Laurel kalmia latfolia
Bird: Robin
Warm as Wool FIAR Vol. 3
Owl Moon FIAR Vol. 2
Night of the Moonjellies FIAR Vol.1
From Plant to Blue Jeans
Bugs and Bugsicles: Insects in Winter
Baby Whale’s Journey
The “Extraordinary” Mark Twain (according to Susy)
The Floating Circus
Noah Webster: Weaver of Words (could not find locally)

Topics: Circus, dinosaurs, submarines, composers, lawyers, landscape architects, peddlers, oysters, praying mantis, Native Americans, sperm whales, Mark Twain, Happiet Beecher Stowe, whaling, Eli Whitney, the cotton gin, dictionaries, Noah Webster

We are studying the states in order of statehood.  Each week we find the state on the map, read and discuss the books, and connect the stories to the area by using maps or Google Earth.  Each day we work in Explode the Code Book 2 and Singapore 2A.

Our family chose this fabric for dinosaurs found in Connecticut.

The rest of this series:  Delaware Week 1, Pennsylvania Week 2, New Jersey Week 3, Georgia Week 4

Topics: Martin Luther King Jr, Coca-Cola,Trail of Tears,Etowah Indians, Dinosaurs, Honey, Bees, Girl Scouts, Invasive plants, Jimmy Carter, George Washington Carver, Botany, Peanuts, swamps, quarries, Cabbage Patch Kids, Stone Mountain, Joel Chandler Harris

We are studying the states in order of statehood.  Each week we find the state on the map, read and discuss the books, and connect the stories to the area by using maps or Google Earth.  Each day we work in Explode the Code Book 2 and Singapore 2A.

Becoming Six chose this quilt fabric for Georgia peaches.

Here are the fabrics we chose for accent fabrics since most of the state fabrics have these colors.  I like the bright since they all fade with washing.

The rest of this series:  Delaware Week 1, Pennsylvania Week 2, New Jersey Week 3,

I wish Kelly’s Mom would accept more help and move in with us, but we quickly realized this would not be an option.  She is upset with me for not letting the kids stay with her without us anymore.  She wants to take them fishing in the mountains and for long walks.  She does not want me “hovering” around.  She is not accepting her diagnosis, so to her nothing has changed.

She told the kids she would not poison them like their mom thinks she will.  I never said that.  Trying to explain our concerns and reasons only makes it worse.  I hear from other people in the family that she is upset with me.  I’ve wanted to take the kids over more in the last couple of months but each time we go over, they ask to spend the night or stay over without me, and we start all over again.

She was upset with me after her doctor’s appointment in June for “telling stories” about her diagnosis, and I was the only witness.  She did not talk to me for a month or so, and I really don’t know if other family members believed the diagnosis.  I think none of us wanted to believe it.  Then in July she called here needing help with her bank accounts and bills.   We helped her straighten them out, now Kelly is paying all her bills.

She still lives alone, and last Monday she refused to go to the doctor.  She has not been to the doctor since June, except to Urgent Care for vertigo.  She seemed cheerful on the phone and said she would go to get her prescriptions refilled.  When I got there, she was out somewhere in her car.  We went by the doctor’s office and she was not there.  Hunter said, “We should put a tracking device on her car.”  We went back by her house and Hunter went to the door knocked and it took a long time for her to answer the door.  When she did, he said, “Time for your appointment Grama” and she said, “I’m not going,” and shut the door in his face.  Later she called a family member crying and saying that I’m harassing her.

This is extremely difficult.  She still lives alone and she still drives.  No one wants to take away her independence too soon.  She is either hiding how difficult things are for her or she doesn’t realize it.  She does not like when I ask her, “How are you?” and other polite social questions.  Her sister visited last month and we got a better picture of her daily living.  We are concerned, but we have not made a solid plan for her yet.

It is so difficult to know WHEN to do the right thing.  I’ve called memory care places, assisted living, a social worker, and I’ve talked with the DMV, the doctor’s nurse and police.  There is not much help from community services if the person does not WANT help.  The only solution to help her is guardianship.  The emotional toll of this is affecting our marriage.  We have been through some really difficult times in our marriage, including infant loss and miscarriage, but this is his mother.  He has always lived close to her and they have a great relationship.  Kelly will move firewood and rake leaves for her all day long, but this is too much for him.

It is hard to talk after the kids go to bed, so Kelly and I occasionally disagree about this in front of the kids.  The kids see me get upset because I’m losing sleep over her driving.  They see us work it out and that we still love each other. We’ve been honest with them about her condition.  They know why they cannot spend the night at her house anymore.  Chandler does not really understand what we are saying, but Hunter understands.  He said he saw a show on TV about Alzheimer’s and what happens in the brain.  He and Kelly watch Discovery, History and Science channels often, so it could have been before Grama’s diagnosis but he remembers.  Rather than being upset by the information, he seems to do better with knowing the truth.

Rather than an angry, emotional, defiant child, I am seeing a caring, compassionate, understanding child.  We talk openly about what is happening with Grama and I answer all his questions in a basic way and let him ask more questions.  When he asked me once if she will die from this, I sadly said, yes.  He wanted to be alone and cried for a long time.  The next time he asked me if she will die, I said none of us know when we will die.  This is what he wanted to hear.  He asked me once what kinds of things she will forget.  I almost said that she will forget his name, because I am worried about this happening, but instead I said she will forget her own name.  He said, “That is not good, Mom.  You need to know your own name.”

These honest conversations have helped him understand why I am not letting him go over there alone.  He has noticed the changes in her too.  The good news is that she is very happy living in the moment and talks of the past often.  She goes dancing with the neighbors at the Grange that Kelly’s Dad played at when he was alive.  She never went then but she goes now.  Her personality has changed and she is more social and outgoing.  She will almost always change the subject to something in the past or stop listening to the conversation in a group of people.

We don’t know what to do.  We know we need to do something soon, but deciding is hard.  Kelly needs to talk to his siblings and hopefully everyone can work together on this.  I’ve asked the social worker to help us with an assessment.

These are the most valuable lessons, for all of us.  Hunter is so compassionate and thoughtful about everything to do with his Grama.   He says he misses Grama being the way he remembers her.  I found a book called What is Happening to Grandpa? by Maria Shriver.  I have not read this book to the kids, but in reading it today, I can see that we’ve done all the same things.

Maybe we are doing something right.

I just pray we do everything right.

__________________________

Editing to add:  Still Alice by Lisa Genova